Below Zero
by SincerelyTruly
Summary: Magnolia is really cold after an awful blizzard! Even Natsu is feeling the chill, so naturally his only option is to go to Lucy's apartment and make sure she's doing okay! Right? Extreme fluff and cuteness right here. NaLu One-Shot! (Though I can probably be talked into making it a series or three-shot or something) Please, Enjoy!


**A/N: Hello, Lovelies! I have another one-shot for you all, born of the horrible temperature outside! We are having a deep freeze up here in Northern Ohio, and well its below zero. Like negative 10+ and the windchill is awful too, naturally. Anyways, I know I should be working on my other stories, but...this was needed to be written, trust me!**

**Disclaimer: I own not, the wonderful Fairy Tail!**

**Anywho...**

The first thing that Natsu noticed when he woke up one sunny morning is that it was fucking cold outside. Pardon the young man's cursing, but there is a certain difference in temperature between cold and _fucking cold_. Because let's face it much to the dragon-slayer's chagrin Natsu doesn't really do well with cold stuff or being cold. That isn't to say he doesn't do well in the cold. He just doesn't like being cold, and that makes all of the difference.

So, when the young man woke shivering slightly and cocooned in his hammock bed, slightly being strangled by his freezing blue cat (currently curled around his neck) Natsu realized that it was indeed _fucking cold_ in Magnolia. The only natural thing for him to do after that was to head for the guild, after stopping by his favorite celestial mages' apartment to make sure she hadn't frozen to death, of course.

It was very early morning and the snow had finally stopped, allowing the sun to peek through to the busy little city and give the illusion of warmth. Natsu huffed as he pulled on his red traveling coat, and wore his very rarely used boots. The extra clothing irritated him. Natsu always felt uncomfortable in a lot of clothes; because they restricted his movements and made him feel vulnerable. As if the fire mage could truly be disabled by anything burnable. Slowly, the lightly dressed man (compared to the rest of the inhabitants of Magnolia excluding Gray Fullbuster) made his way to Strawberry Street. Poor Happy, snugged securely within the man's shirt, to keep warm.

Without any hesitance Natsu jumped onto the sill of Lucy's window and knocked on the glass, hoping to be let in. Much to his surprise he was granted entrance almost immediately.

"Good morning, Luc-"

"Just get in already!" Lucy cried as she tugged the man inside and slammed the window shut. The young woman stood there shaking visibly, draped in a quilt and wearing several layers of clothes that Natsu never even knew she owned. The apartment was only just warm enough to not see ones breath, Natsu frowned.

"What's up with your heater? It's not doing the job!" He wandered over to the fire place and began setting it up for a fire.

"I know, but I don't have anything ready for building a fire or anything." Lucy bit out.

"Ah, yeah I can see that." Natsu shifted around the room thinking for a moment before pulling the frozen cat from his chest and pushing him into Lucy's. "Do me a favor and keep Happy and yourself as warm as you can. I'll go out and get some wood and something for breakfast."

"Eeek!" Lucy squeaked as she just barely caught Happy, "O-okay!" She stuttered out, immediately snuggling with the blue cat that was unusually quiet. Natsu swiftly hopped out the window and went on his way to Mavis knows where, and Lucy jumped back into her bed.

"Natsu really does care for Lucy!" Happy purred as his body temperature began to level back out with the help of sharing body heat. Lucy raised an eyebrow at the cat.

"Of course, Natsu cares for all of his nakama, Happy."

"Aye, but not like he does, Lushi. Natsu doesn't like the cold one bit, but he went out to get stuff for you to keep warm." Happy rolled onto his back and allowed Lucy to rub his tummy, completely at ease.

"Hmmm, well we are partners, right? We take care of each other all the time." Lucy smiled. Happy merely went asleep completely content, leaving Lucy with her annoying thoughts. Thoughts of hopefulness and romantic notions, all that were (in her mind) certainly pointless.

It wasn't even an hour later when Natsu let himself back in. Both Lucy and Happy had fallen asleep due to their shared warmth and body heat, the man beamed at the cute bundled pair. Quickly, he put away the groceries and pulled the seasoned wood from his back. Making haste Natsu started the fire first, his specialty! Keeping the fire at its hottest to spike the heat up in the room, he ventured into the kitchen and started up a simple breakfast, bacon and eggs. He certainly was not a chef, but Natsu had learned a thing or two about cooking simple dishes for survival. Although Natsu would have to admit that Lisanna and Mira had certainly been a part in teaching him.

Soon the smell of bacon and the warm caress of a fire woke the young blonde up. Happy continued to snooze in her pillow as Lucy braved the room's temperature, cloaked in only a throw instead of her quilt.

"Natsu?" She inquired while peeking around her doorway to see the man in her kitchen. He currently held a cast-iron griddle in one hand; literally heating it himself, while flipping the bacon expertly. Lucy giggled at his extremely concentrated facial expression. Looking up, and grinning at the girl, Natsu finished the bacon and set it out on a plate.

"Good morning, Lucy." Natsu said quietly, starting to ready the eggs for cooking.

"Morning! I'm really glad you decided to come over, I don't know why my heater just isn't up to the challenge right now." Lucy frowned.

"Well, according to the townspeople who would actually talk to me, it is below zero outside. I think everyone's heater is acting up right now, in fact I am pretty sure that most people are being advised to stay in due to the frostbite conditions." Natsu shrugged before continuing, "So, I think you probably should lay low today."

"You really don't like the cold do you?" The man gave her a weird look before she continued, "Happy informed me that obviously you cared an awful lot for me, since you hate the cold and don't like going out in it." Lucy laughed at the embarrassed dragon-slayer before her, cooking in her kitchen.

"Pfft, what does Happy know? O-of course I care! We are—"

"Nakama, I know." Lucy finished for him, slightly saddened by his usual reply.

"No, I was going to say we are partners, actually. So, obviously we're more than just nakama." Natsu explained as he put together a small portion of breakfast for both Lucy and Happy before piling his plate with the leftovers. Avoiding eye-contact he set the table and sat down across from the girl.

Instead of saying anything to ruin the nice moment between them, Lucy dug into her food and couldn't swipe the goofy smile off her face. Natsu had kind of sort of alluded to their less than platonic friendship, and for now, in the frozen state they were in she would have to take that.

Until Natsu accidentally got egg yolk on her face, from his barbaric way of eating, Lucy immediately gave him an "are you kidding me" face. He merely laughed and tried to give her a napkin to wipe it off, but she instead got angry and tried to escape, to mope in her bathroom. Swiftly the elder mage grabbed onto her wrist and yanked her back to him, wiping the mess off of her himself. Speechless, Lucy remained still as he righted his mistake and smoothed her messy bedhead back behind her ear, before returning to his own seat and meal.

"Calm down, Lucy. It's just you and me." Natsu said as though it explained everything that happened. This man truly confused her. Sometimes he was so immature, then others he was like an old man, and yet even other times he would have these moments where he was completely unreadable. Natsu would say things that only he really understood the complete meaning of, and would be so very calm about it.

For a moment Lucy stood and stared at him in awe. Natsu _was_ always so caring with her. Constantly coming to her during missions and whatnot, asking if she were okay; constantly stopping by at her house worried about her; constantly catching her when she was about to fall or be hurt. Why had Happy brought this obvious fact up on today of all days? A day when the three of them could just enjoy their time together and relax? The little blue devil just had to get her thinking about things she shouldn't.

"Earth to Lucy," Natsu pulled her from her thoughts, "you should finish your food before it gets cold!" He gestured to the plate, and she immediately went to action eating from it. Doing anything at the moment to keep from thinking was worth it. In fact, she barely noticed the man staring at her. Their eyes met and Lucy's heart just about leapt out of her chest. "So, what do you want to do today?" His question had her gulping. What she _wanted_ to do was completely inappropriate with the dragon-slayer.

"Uh, I-I guess I could work on my novel, but I don't really know honestly. I'm not really in the mood to write. What do you want to do?" Lucy had never asked Natsu what he wanted to do, especially in her own home. Needless to say he was surprised, pleasantly.

"Why don't we just…relax and do whatever comes to mind?" Natsu simpered, fully aware that he was pushing buttons when he added, "We could just stay in bed all day."

"We? It's my bed!" Lucy flushed and yelled at the man, completely delighted and annoyed with his audacity. Clearing the table of their empty dishes and setting Happy's to the side for later she wasn't entirely surprised when Natsu argued.

"Oh, come on, Lucy. Happy snuggles with you all the time, and I love being in your bed!" Seriously, Lucy had to know why he was so freaking adorable today!

"Man, you guys ate without me?" Happy flew in, "Ah, and it isn't even fish!"

"Oh, my Mavis, Happy!" Lucy exclaimed, rushing into her bedroom and burying into her covers. All she wanted was to be with Natsu, but she knew it was inappropriate to cuddle in bed all day when they were only friends. Of course, the dragon-slayer currently sinking into the bed next to her at the moment, did not share this thought.

"Are you still so cold?" Natsu laughed as he tried to pull the covers away from his blonde friend. "Don't make me have to tickle you, just to see your face, Luce."

"Ahhh!" She squealed as his fingers met her ribs, finding all the right spots to make her squirm.

"You are so sensitive," He chuckled as he threw the quilt back to reveal his favorite person, "Come here, and let me warm you up!" Grasping her to his side he continued to caress her sides in a soothing manner.

"Uhn, Natsu, you have to stop that!" Lucy stopped his hands and rolled away from him.

"Lucy, what's wrong?"

"It is not appropriate to touch the opposite sex so intimately, not when you aren't dating." She explained quietly.

"Well, that's just stupid. You're Lucy. We shouldn't let others tell us how to behave, and I'm not going to let them keep me from touching you." And within seconds his hands were back on her hips, tugging their bodies back together. Lucy gasped as his warm hands resumed their petting from before. "It feels good when we're together, Lucy. I'm not giving that up." He burrowed his nose into her neck and sighed.

"N-natsu!" Lucy exhaled, again squirming under his hold. She had so many hormonal feelings rushing to her head, and yet she knew it was hopeless. Natsu had no idea why boys and girls couldn't be so intimate or rather didn't understand the implications behind it.

"Don't you ever just want to cuddle together?" He asked seriously, finally staying his hands long enough to allow her to answer.

"Cuddle?" Lucy was confused.

"Don't you ever have an overwhelming urge to hug me, or touch me?" Natsu murmured, seeming very (rightly) vulnerable. Lucy gasped, finally understanding their situation possibly.

"You mean…like this?" Lucy whispered, trailing her fingertips up his exposed right arm and then rubbing his back all the way down to his hips, slowly. He hummed into her neck and breathed her in deeply, making Lucy break out in shivers. "Natsu, I always want to touch you." Lucy admitted, turning the color of Erza's hair.

"Then why do you always fight me, why can't we just…" The man trailed off, totally unsure of what he wanted from Lucy.

"Because only friends and partners who become like Bisca and Alzack should touch each other like this, that's dating, Natsu. People who l-love each other very much, are the only ones allowed to be so physical." She caressed his heated cheek and melted as his big green eyes looked at her in wonder.

"Lucy, I love you more than anyone, don't you love me?" Natsu pulled her far enough away to see her face straight on. Totally shocked, she completely froze, the panicky, beautiful feeling of love setting in as she realized he loved her back.

"Yes. Yes, definitely I just didn't know—didn't think—"

"How could you not know that I love you?" He put his forehead to hers. Gripping her clothing covered arms and sighing.

"I, it just seemed as though you were oblivious to things like that. Even now, you don't seem to understand why we want to touch each other."

"I think I get the main idea, I just didn't understand why you were so against me touching you." Natsu murmured as he slipped his hands under her many tops, to stroke the soft skin of her waist. Whimpering she pressed herself into him, arching into his touch, eliciting a welcoming growl from the dragon-slayer.

"Natsu?" She gasped as his wandering hands began to divest her of her multiple layers of clothes. "Have you by chance ever thought of touching my lips?" She smirked, as his wide eyes met hers.

"Always." He smoothed his down her stomach and reached back up to her mouth, tracing the opening tenderly.

"Well, then, we should probably explore those first—" Searing lips stopped her own as he drank her scent in and melded her skin with his own. Soon their tongues were fighting for dominion, his winning without much struggle.

Never had either mage been so thrilled and content and joyous before. Happy resolved to stay in the kitchen so as not to interrupt the two love birds, knowing full well they needed time together.

"I am so glad its fucking cold outside." Natsu laughed as he pressed kisses down Lucy's throat, sending silent prayers of thanks to whoever made the weather so awful.

"I'm so glad I have my own personal heater." Lucy snickered and Natsu merely ignored her, heaving the covers over their heads. To keep warm of course.

**A/N: Woo! I think I'm sufficiently warmed up now...angsty/fluffy enough for you? Haha, please let me know how I did! REVIEW? Fave? Follow? :))**


End file.
